SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Kobe Bryant struggled against Jason Kidd’s defense as the Mavericks edged the Lakers 96-94 in the first game of their second-round playoff series Monday night.

Do the officials call fewer fouls at the end of tight playoff games?

“Historically that’s true,” John Madden told the KCBS morning crew. “The bigger the game, the less officials really want to be part of it. The closer the game at the end, they don’t want to be part of that either…. They’re going to call the egregious foul, but you tend to let other stuff go so that your call doesn’t really affect a big game.”